Systems, methods, and computer-readable medium for tracking, reconciling, and reporting on DTMF data and voice data communicated between call centers and users

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for tracking, reconciling, and reporting on data representing Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) tones and voice signals communicated between call center and users during interactions therebetween. The system may include a data store adapted to store the DTMF data and a text corresponding to the voice data; a transcription process receiving data representing the voice signal and converting it into corresponding text; a report generation process obtaining the DTMF data and the text, transmitting a report containing the same to a client, and updating the date store accordingly; and a reconciliation process receiving data enabling reconciliation of data as tracked by the call center and as tracked by an entity other than the call center. The transcription process may operate as a third-party or an in-house entity relative to the at least one call center.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present patent application is a continuation of and claims priorityfrom patent application Ser. No. 13/188,544, filed on Jul. 22, 2011 andtitled Systems, Methods, and Computer-Readable Medium for Tracking,Reconciling, and Reporting on DTMF Data and Voice Data CommunicatedBetween Call Centers and Users, which is a continuation of and claimspriority from patent application Ser. No. 12/411,637, filed on Mar. 26,2006 and titled Systems, Methods, and Computer-Readable Medium forTracking, Reconciling, and Reporting on DTMF Data and Voice DataCommunicated Between Call Centers and Users, now issued U.S. Pat. No.8,019,074, issued on Sep. 13, 2011, which is a continuation of andclaims priority from patent application Ser. No. 10/607,504, filed Jun.26, 2003 and titled Systems, Methods, and Computer-Readable Medium forTracking, Reconciling, and Reporting on DTMF Data and Voice DataCommunicated Between Call Centers and Users, now issued U.S. Pat. No.7,529,362, issued on May 5, 2009, the entire contents of each areenclosed by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally related to voice data communicatedbetween call centers and users. More specifically, to systems, methodsand computer-readable medium for tracking, reconciling, and reporting ondata representing at least one Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) tone andat least one voice signal that are communicated between at least onecall center and at least one user.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A first aspect of the invention may include an automated, computer-basedsystem for tracking, reconciling, and reporting on data representing atleast one Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) tone and at least one voicesignal. The at least one Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) tone and atleast one voice signal are communicated between at least one call centerand at least one user during at least one interaction therebetween. Thesystem comprises the following: at least one data store adapted to storeat least first data representing the at least one DTMF tone; and atleast one transcription process adapted to receive data representing theat least one voice signal and to convert it into corresponding text. Thetranscription process may operate as at least one of a third-partyrelative to the at least one call center and the at least one user, andan in-house entity relative to the at least one call center. There maybe at least one report generation process adapted at least to obtain atleast the first data and the corresponding text. The report process thentransmits at least one report to at least one client. The report maycontain at least the first data, the voice signal and the correspondingtext. The report process then updates the at least one data store,wherein the data store allocates a space for and stores at least one ofa plurality of records, in response to transmission of the report. Atleast one reconciliation process communicates with the at least one datastore to receive data enabling reconciliation of data as tracked by theat least one call center. The call center may include a facility, forexample, either an in-house facility or at a merchant location or anout-sourced facility to a third-party. The reconciliation processcommunicates with the at least one data store to receive data enablingreconciliation of data as tracked by the at least one call center, andas tracked by at least one entity other than the at least one callcenter, and is adapted to calculate and display reconciliation data atleast to the at least one call center.

Another aspect of the invention may include an automated, computer-basedmethod for tracking, reconciling, and reporting on data representing atleast one Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) tone and at least one voicesignal that are communicated between at least one call center and atleast one user during at least one interaction therebetween. The methodmay comprise capturing first data representing at least one DTMF tonegenerated during a first interaction; capturing at least second datarepresenting at least one voice signal generated during the firstinteraction; transcribing the at least one voice signal intocorresponding text, wherein the transcribing is performed as at leastone of a third-party relative to the at least one call center and the atleast one user, and an in-house entity relative to the at least one callcenter; creating at least one record to store the first and the at leastsecond data and at least one of the voice signal and corresponding text;determining a completeness parameter associated with the at least onerecord; generating at least one report containing at least in part theat least one record; and transmitting the at least one report. Anautomated, computer-based method is provided for tracking, reconciling,and reporting on data representing at least one Dual ToneMulti-Frequency (DTMF) tone and at least one voice signal that arecommunicated between at least one call center and at least one userduring at least one interaction therebetween. The method comprisescapturing first data representing at least one DTMF tone generatedduring a first interaction between at least one call center and at leastone user during at least one interaction. Once completed, second datarepresenting at least one voice signal generated during the firstinteraction are captured and at least one record is created to store thefirst and the at least second data and the voice signal. After therecord is generated, a completeness parameter associated with the recordis determined and at least one report containing at least in part the atleast one record is generated. Finally, the at least one report.

Yet another aspect of the invention may include a computer readablemedium comprising instructions executable by computer to for track,reconcile, and report on data representing at least one Dual ToneMulti-Frequency (DTMF) tone and at least one voice signal that arecommunicated between at least one call center, and at least one userduring at least one interaction therebetween. The instructions may beoperable perform method steps of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating various components and data flowsrelated to a system provided according to various illustrativeembodiments of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating various components and data flowsrelated to a system provided according to various further illustrativeembodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating data flow associated with a mergeprocess provided according to various illustrative embodiments of theinvention;

FIG. 4A is a block diagram illustrating relationships between clients,applications, and records provided according to various illustrativeembodiments of the invention;

FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating a data structure suitable for storingvarious data as collected and generated by various illustrativeembodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating process flow provided according tovarious illustrative embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating various components and data flowsrelated to a system 100 provided according to various illustrativeembodiments of the invention. One aspect of the instant inventionprovides an automated, computer-based system 100 for tracking,reconciling, and reporting on data representing one or more dual-tonemulti-frequency (DTMF) tones 103 and one or more voice signals 105 thatare communicated between one or more call centers 104 and one or moreusers 102 during at least one interaction therebetween. As adefinitional matter, the term “user” herein refers to persons who mayeither contact or be contacted by a call center 104. From the callcenter's perspective, the former case can be characterized as an inboundcontact and the latter case as an outbound contact. The invention asdisclosed and claimed herein may be applicable in either context. Theterm “call center” herein refers to any facility, either in-house at agiven merchant or outsourced to a third party, wherein calls arereceived or placed. The term “interaction” refers to any contactconducted between the user 102 and the call center 104, most typicallybut not exclusively a telephone call originated by either the user 102or the call center 104.

Data Stores

The system 100 can comprise one or more data stores 108 that are adaptedto store, inter alia, data that represents the one or more DTMF tones103 received from a given user 102 or users. Alternatively, severalrespective data stores, such as IVR master record storage 108 a andvoice record storage 108 b shown in FIG. 2, can be provided to storedata representing voice signals 105, DTMF tones 103, transcribed text107, and other data as described herein, or at least some of this datacan be combined for storage in the same data store 108.

The term “data store” herein refers to any storage medium capable ofstoring data, whether realized using semiconductor, magnetic, or opticaltechnology. This term can also include abstract data structuressupported by any number of programming languages, with non-limitingexamples including queues, stacks, linked lists or the like, all ofwhich are implemented at the machine level by disk storage,semiconductor memory, optical media, or the like. If the data store 108is implemented as a database, this database can take the form of arelational database, an object-oriented database, and any combinationthereof, or any other known database technology. Suitable databaseserver programs are readily available from a variety of vendors,including IBM/Informix, Microsoft, Oracle, or the like.

Turning to FIG. 4B, a diagram illustrating a data structure suitable forstoring various data as collected and generated by various illustrativeembodiments of the invention. The one or more data stores 108 canallocate space for and store one or more discrete records 410, each ofwhich records 410 can contain respective fields 420 a-f for at leastsome of the DTMF data (420 a), the voice data (420 b), textcorresponding to the voice data (420 c), reporting date (420 e), or dateof call (420 f). Other fields can be provided to store data such as loaddates, edit dates, or the like. As known in the database arts, a“record” refers to a group of related data items that can be processedas a discrete unit, while “fields” refer to individual storage locationsdefined within a given record.

Turning to FIG. 4A, a block diagram illustrating relationships betweenclients, applications, and records provided according to variousillustrative embodiments of the invention. The data store 108 can host aplurality of respective records 410 a-f that contain given instances ofDTMF data, voice data, and/or text data corresponding to the voice data,as well as other data discussed below, which data are obtained fromgiven users 102 by one or more call centers 104 while supporting one ormore given applications 400 a-d on behalf of one or more clients 112 aand 112 b. These various data can be stored within respective fields 420allocated within a given record 410. These fields 420 may be associatedwith one another to reflect their status as having been captured duringa given interaction between a user 102 and a call center 104, including,as a non-limiting example, the fields 420 a containing DTMF data andfields 420 c containing text data corresponding to voice signals 105captured during the interaction. This association can result from thefields 420 being part of a given record 410 allocated for a giveninteraction, or can result from the fields 420 themselves beingallocated separately from mass storage (such as a stack or heap) andthen linked with other fields 420 for a given interaction or with arecord 410 allocated for the given interaction. These various methods ofassociation can be performed using pointers or index fields or files aswell known in the art.

Transcription Process

Returning to FIG. 1, one or more transcription processes 106 can beadapted to receive data 105 representing the one or more voice signals,and to convert or transcribe them into corresponding text 107. Indifferent embodiments of the invention, the transcription process orentity 106 can take different forms. The transcription process 106 canoperate as a third-party relative to the call center 104 and the atleast one user 102, or can operate as an in-house entity relative to thecall center 104. The transcription process(es) 106 can be realized as anautomated system that converts the voice signal 105 substantiallywithout human intervention. In the context of this description,“substantially without human intervention” refers to a transcriptionprocess 106 wherein human interaction is possibly necessary to initiatethe transcription process 106 and occasionally trouble-shoot or remedymalfunctions, but wherein the process itself functions automatically inthe normal course without active human participation. Conventionalspeech recognition engines may be suitable for realizing thetranscription process 106. In other embodiments, transcription is doneby a transcription entity 106 such as a live operator, or by anautomated system that at least assists a live operator in converting thevoice signal 105 into text 107.

Turning to the transcription process 106 in more detail, this processcan receive or be forwarded a plurality of voice signals 105 and convertthe same into corresponding text 107. “Voice signals” in this contextcan correspond to the waveforms corresponding to one spoken word,multiple words, or parts of a single word, depending on the technologyused to implement the transcription process 106.

The transcription process 106 may communicate with a load process (notshown) that is adapted to populate a data store record 410 or field 420with the corresponding text 107 once this text 107 is available from thetranscription process 106. A suitable but non-limiting example of a loadprocess would be a suitably constructed LOAD statement as known in SQLor other database languages.

Report Generation Process

One or more report generation processes 110 can obtain at least datarepresenting the one or more DTMF tones 103 and the corresponding text107, and transmit one or more reports 113 containing at least the DTMFdata 103 and the corresponding text 107 to one or more clients 112. Thereport generation process 110 can update the one or more data stores 108(see link 203 in FIG. 2) to reflect which data have been reported ortransmitted to the client 112.

One function of the report generation process 110 is to determine when arecord 410 allocated for a given interaction is complete and can bereported to the corresponding client 112. In one embodiment, the client112 for whom the interaction is performed may specify what constitutes acomplete record 410 suitable for reporting. In the outsourced callcenter context, the call center 104 may assist a plurality of differentclients to track and meet respective reporting requirements. Where theclients 112 are financial institutions, the clients 112 may be subjectto regulatory requirements mandating that each interaction with users102 be tracked, accounted-for, and dispositioned.

In other embodiments, the call center 104 itself may define whatconstitutes a complete record 410. In any event, the report generationprocess 110 would then compare a given record 410 to this specificationto determine whether the record 410 is complete. As a non-limitingexample, a given client 112 may require that all transaction records 410reported to it must contain populated fields for at least DTMF data 103and text 107 corresponding to the voice data 105 captured during thetransaction. The report generation process 110 can check a given record410 for completeness by traversing the record 410 and examining whetherthe required field or fields 420 in the record 410 are populated withdata. The invention can also include error-checking data usingpre-defined guidelines. In short, the report generation process 110determines that each voice signal 105 required to be transcribed for agiven interaction has been converted into corresponding text 107.Typically, the report generation process 110 determines that text 107corresponding to a given voice signals 105 have been received from thetranscription process 106.

Once the report generation process 110 determines that a given record410 is ready to be reported, this process 110 extracts the contents ofone or more fields 420 of the data store(s) 108 in response torespective reporting requirements established by one more given clients112. Once the data are extracted from these fields 420, the contentsthereof can be placed in intermediate or temporary storage if necessaryduring the report generation process. The report generation process 110can also format the contents of these fields 420 into one or morereports 113 in response to respective formatting requirements specifiedby one or more respective clients 112.

In other embodiments of the invention, the report generation process 110can extract data for and format reports 113 for transmission to callcenter management entities 114, whether such entities are livepersonnel, groups or teams, or automated processes that overseeoperations of the call center 104. In such embodiments, the aboveteaching regarding extracting field contents, field requirements,reporting requirements, formatting requirements, or the like in thecontext of preparing reports 113 for clients 112 are equally applicablein the context of preparing management reports. These management reportscan take the form of, for example, status or progress reports or can beidentical to reports provided to the client 112.

Whether the reports 113 are provided to clients 112 or call centermanagement 114, these reports 113 can be generated and delivered at anyconvenient time interval, or can track data gathered over such timeinterval. Non-limiting examples of such time intervals can includeminute, hour, day, week, month, year, or other suitable unit of time.Further, these reports 113 can contain data reporting on any number ofparameters. Non-limiting examples of such reports can include any of thefollowing, with the numbers being reported as a grand total, acumulative and/or partial total, or partial totals gathered over a giventime interval:

-   -   a number of records 410 generated over a given time period,    -   a number of records 410 generated while supporting at least one        specific application 400 (FIG. 4A),    -   a number of records 410 generated while supporting at least one        specific client 112, accounting for one or more separate        applications 400,    -   a number of voice signals 105 or records 410 that are awaiting        transcription,    -   either total, to-date, or over some time period, and/or total        number of voice signals 105 or records 410 awaiting        transcription, with the report 113 being organized by        application 400 and/or by client 112.

The report generation process 100 can also report on records 410 thatare considered “incomplete”, in that they are not yet fully populatedwith the data required by the client 112 for whom the record 410 isbeing maintained. For example, given reports 113 can list a number ofvoice signals 105 that are awaiting transcription into correspondingtext 102, either as a total number or a number generated over a timeinterval as discussed above. Further, these reports 113 can be organizedby the transcription entity 106 to which the voice signal(s) 105 issent, and can also track the time elapsed since the voice signal(s) 105was sent. By tracking this date, the call center 104 can identifyproblems with a given transcription entity 106 by isolating thosetranscription entities 106 with a backlog of pending requests. The callcenter 104 can then pursue follow-up actions with the transcriptionentity 106 such as retracting previously-submitted requests, demandingfaster resolution of pending requests, escalating the matter with thetranscription entity 106, or routing future requests to othertranscription entities 106. In any event, this tracking feature enablesthe call center 104 to identify and resolve relatively minor issues withtranscription before they become major issues that impact the callcenter's ability to service its clients 112 in the context of real-timetranscription, the reporting parameters discussed above, such asfrequency of reports, can be adjusted accordingly.

As further non-limiting examples of reporting on incomplete records, thereport generation process 110 can report on a number of voice records410 that are acknowledged as received by one or more transcriptionentities 106, whether total or over one of the above time periods. Thisreport can be further organized by the client 112 for whom the record410 was generated, or a specific client application for which the record410 is generated.

The report generation process 110 can also report on “spoils”, which arethose voice signals 105 that are incompletely transcribed and cannotreasonably be completely transcribed for any one of a variety ofreasons, such as a garbled or distorted voice signal 105, computerhardware/software malfunctions that corrupt the voice signal 105 orprevent a voice signal 105 from being created, transmission line noiseor other communications network-related issues that affect the voicesignal 105, or the like. As noted above, if the client 112 is subject to100% reporting requirements, it may be necessary for the call center 104to track and report on “spoiled” voice signal 105.

The comments above regarding the content, frequency, and types ofreporting done for complete or incomplete records 410 apply equally inthe context of reporting on spoiled voice records. Non-limiting examplesof reports 113 can include reporting on voice records 410 that areincompletely transcribed and can report total number or be organized byrelevant time period (second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year,etc.). These reports 113 can also be organized by application 400, byclient 112, by transcription entity 106, and any combination of theforegoing, or by other organizations criteria.

The report generation process 110 can also report specifically on “good”voice signals 105, which are those voice signals 105 that can be or aresubstantially completely transcribed into corresponding text 107.“Substantially” in this context refers to a transcription capturing allof the substantive meaning conveyed in the voice signal 105, whileexcluding extraneous material such as line noise, coughing,non-substantive conversation (“um”, “uh”, etc.), or the like.

The comments above regarding the content, frequency, and types ofreporting, done for complete or incomplete records 410 apply equally inthe context of reporting on “good” voice signals 105. Non-limitingexamples of reports 113 can include reporting on voice records 105 thatare completely transcribed and can be organized at least by relevanttime period (second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year, etc.). Thesereports can also be organized by application 400, by client 112, bytranscription entity 106, and any combination of the foregoing, or byother organizational criteria. In addition, these reports 113 caninclude entries for total number of records 410 that are or have beensent to respective clients 112, can be further organized by any of thetime periods above, by application 400 supported on behalf of one ormore clients 112, by relevant transcription entity 106, or by otherorganizational criteria.

Having generated the data required to compile the report 410, the reportgeneration process 110 can transmit or send one or more respectivereports 113 to one or more respective clients 112 or to a call centermanagement entity 114. These reports 113 can be transmitted to theclients 112 or call center management entities 114 using any suitabletransmission or communication technology as selected by those skilled inthe art. Where call centers 104 host more than one application 400 for agiven client 112, these reports 113 can list data relating to eachrespective application 400 supported on behalf of the given client 112.The report generation process 110 can store a date and/or a time atwhich respective records 400 reported to the corresponding client 112are, for example, in a field 420 e shown in FIG. 4B. In this embodiment,one or more fields 420 e in the data store 118 can be marked as havinghad their contents reported to the corresponding client 410, as wellbeing marked with the date and/or time of such reporting.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that, in light of the teachingherein, the report generation process 110 can readily be implementedusing query commands formulated using known database software.

Reconciliation Process

One or more reconciliation processes 114 can be adapted to communicatewith the one or more data stores 118 to receive data enablingreconciliation of data as tracked by the call center(s) 104 and astracked by one or more entities other than the call center. Thereconciliation process(es) 114 can be adapted to calculate and displayreconciliation data 111, as well as reports (represented by referencenumeral 113) compiled from such data, to call center management and/orto clients. In general, the function of the reconciliation process 114is to reconcile one or more parameters as tracked by one or more callcenters 104 with corresponding parameters as tracked by a second entityother than the call center 104, or to ensure that a count of a generalitem equals a count of specific items constituting the general item.These second entities could be clients 112, transcription serviceproviders 106, or the like. As discussed above in connection with thereport generation process 110, these reconciliation reports 111 couldprovide total counts, cumulative counts, counts to-date, data gatheredper unit time, or any other convenient method of reporting.

Non-limiting examples of the types of parameters that can be tracked andreconciled by the reconciliation process 114 can include any of thefollowing:

-   -   a count of voice signals 105 sent to a given transcription        process 106 versus a count of corresponding text records 107        received from the transcription process 106. This difference        should reveal how many records are “pending” or in “queue” at        the transcription process 106. If this difference exceeds a        given threshold, this may indicate a problem with the        transcription process 106.    -   a count of records sent to a transcription process 106 versus a        count of records acknowledged as received by the transcription        process 106. Any difference between these counts could indicate        a problem with the transcription process 106, or with the        communication link between the call center 104 and the        transcription process 106.    -   a status of each of interaction conducted by the call center        104. As a non-limiting example, this report 111 could categorize        each voice signal 105 received by the at least one call center        104 as at least one of the following: a complete record 410 that        has all required fields populated, an incomplete record 410 that        does not yet have all required fields populated. For each field        420 within the record 410, the report 111 can characterize such        fields 420 as containing a good transcription, and a failed        transcription (or “spoil”).    -   counts of records 410 created by the call center 104 versus        counts of records 410 reported by the call center 104 to a given        client 112. A difference in these counts indicates how many        records 410 are “pending” or in “queue” at the call center 104,        and a significant increase in this difference could indicate        potential problems with call center processing. In turn, these        problems could be traceable to issues with transcription, or        problems with a communication link between the call center 104        and given client 112. For a call center management entity 114        that oversees multiple call centers 104, an increasing backlog        or queue at a given call center 104 may indicate a need to        follow-up with that specific call center 104 to avoid alienating        clients 112. The invention can include reporting on such        backlogs, or other matters described herein, in real-time with        the occurrence of the detection of the backlog, and preferably        in real-time with the occurrence of the circumstances causing        the backlog. “Real-time” as used herein refers to a second event        occurring without perceived delay after a first event.

Merge Process

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating data flow associated with a mergeprocess provided according to various illustrative embodiments of theinvention. One or more merge processes 302 can match the DTMF tones 103captured during a given interaction with text 107 corresponding to theat least one voice signal 105 captured during the given interaction. Themerge process 302 can associate a DTMF tone 103 captured during a giveninteraction with text corresponding to at least one voice signal 105captured during the given interaction, or can create one or more mergeddata streams 301 that include records 410 containing, for a giveninteraction, data representing DTMF tone(s) 103 and text 107corresponding to voice signals 105 captured during that interaction, aswell as the voice signals 105 themselves in some embodiments.

Voice Response Unit

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating various components and data flowsrelated to a system provided according to various further illustrativeembodiments of the invention. A system 200 provided according toalternative embodiments of the invention can include a voice responseunit (VRU) 205 adapted to capture data representing one or more DTMFtones 103 from a given user 102 interacting with the call center 104, ora plurality of respective DTMF tones 103 obtained from a plurality ofsuch users 102. VRUs are also referred to in the industry as interactivevoice response (IVR) units.

The voice response unit 205 can support multiple call centerapplications 400 on behalf of multiple call center clients 112 bycapturing respective data representing a plurality of DTMF tones 103 orvoice signals 105 from a plurality of users 102, wherein respectiveusers 102 are calling for different respective programs or applications400 that are supported on behalf of different clients 112 by one or morecall centers 104. In the multiple call center context, the various callcenter facilities may or may not be affiliated with one another.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating process flow provided according tovarious illustrative embodiments of the invention. The invention alsoprovides methods for tracking, reconciling, and reporting on data thatis generated during interactions between one or more call centers andone or more users contacting the call center. An illustrative method 500can be conducted in connection with the above-discussed systemcomponents or with other systems or components, and can comprise atleast the following. In block 510, data is captured that represents oneor more DTMF tones 103 generated during a given interaction between auser 102 and a call center 104. In block 520, data is captured thatrepresents one or more voice signals 105 generated during the giveninteraction. In block 530, one or more records 420 are created to storethe DTMF data 103 and the voice data 105. In block 540, a completenessparameter indicating whether the one or more records 420 are complete isestablished. In block 550, one or more reports 113 are generated thatcontain at least in part the one or more records 420. The one or morereports 112 are finally transmitted to one or more recipients.Non-limiting examples of such recipients can include one or more clients112 serviced by a call center 104 or one or more management entities 114associated with the call center 104.

The specification above describes numerous variations of the abovegeneral method in the context of the system components discussedtherein. Those skilled in the art will understand that these methodsteps could be practiced using either the system components disclosedabove, or could be practiced independently of those system components,as contemplated in the method claims attached hereto.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the format content, andlayout of the data structures and flowcharts as shown herein are shownonly for convenience, clarity, and conciseness in describingillustrative embodiments of the invention. Those skilled in the art willalso recognize that the invention is not limited to the data structureand flowcharts as shown herein, but instead that the arrangement,layout, format, order and content of such flowcharts and data structurescould be altered, for example by adding, modifying, or deleting fieldsfrom data structures, by adding processing, or the like withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention.

A suitable application program can implement software residing on thecomputer-readable medium or media 501 (FIG. 5) and embodying the variousaspects of the method discussed herein and shown in the drawing figures,and can be coded using any suitable programming, database access, orscripting language. However, it is to be understood that the inventionas described herein is not dependent on any particular operating system,environment, or programming language. Illustrative operating systemsinclude without limitation LINUX, UNIX, or any of the Windows™-family ofoperating systems, and illustrative languages include without limitationa variety of structured and object-oriented languages such as C, C++,Visual Basic, or the like.

As those skilled in the art will understand, the program of instructionscan be loaded and stored onto a program storage medium or device 501readable by a computer or other machine, embodying a program ofinstructions executable by the machine to perform the various aspects ofthe invention as discussed and claimed herein, and as illustrated in thedrawing figures. Generally speaking, the program storage medium 501 canbe implemented using any technology based upon materials having specificmagnetic, optical, semiconductor or other properties that render themsuitable for storing computer-readable data, whether such technologyinvolves either volatile or non-volatile storage media. Specificexamples of such media can include, but are not limited to, magnetichard or floppy disks drives, optical drives or CD-ROMs, and any memorytechnology based on semiconductors or other materials, whetherimplemented as read-only or random access memory. In short, thisembodiment of the invention may reside either on a medium directlyaddressable by the computer's processor (main memory, howeverimplemented) or on a medium indirectly accessible to the processor(secondary storage media such as hard disk drives, tape drives, CD-ROMdrives, floppy drives, or the like). Consistent with the above teaching,program storage device 501 can be affixed permanently or removably to abay, socket, connector, or other hardware provided by the cabinet,motherboard, or other component of a given computer system.

Those skilled in the art will also understand that a computer programmedin accordance with the above teaching using known programming languagesprovides suitable means for realizing the various functions, methods,and processes as described and claimed herein and as illustrated in thedrawing figure attached hereto.

Various embodiments of the invention are described above to facilitate athorough understanding of various aspects of the invention. However,these embodiments are to be understood as illustrative rather thanlimiting in nature, and those skilled in the art will recognize thatvarious modifications or extensions of these embodiments will fallwithin the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: at least one transcriptionprocess adapted to receive data representing at least one voice signaland to convert it into corresponding text; at least one reportgeneration process adapted to: obtain first data and the correspondingtext, and transmit at least one report to at least one client, thereport containing at least the first data, the at least one voice signaland the corresponding text; and at least one reconciliation processcommunicating with the at least one data store to receive data enablingreconciliation of data as tracked by at least one entity, and as trackedby at least one other entity, and being adapted to calculate and displaythe reconciliation data at least to the at least one call center.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, comprising at least one data store adapted to storethe first data representing at least one DTMF tone and comprising atleast one merge process adapted to match the at least one DTMF tonecaptured during a given interaction with text corresponding to the atleast one voice signal captured during the given interaction.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the at least one merge process is adapted toassociate the at least one DTMF tone captured during the giveninteraction with text corresponding to the at least one voice signalcaptured during the given interaction.
 4. The system of claim 2, whereinthe merge process is adapted to create at least one merged data streamand includes data representing at least the at least one DTMF tone andthe corresponding text.
 5. The system of claim 2, wherein the mergeprocess is adapted to create a merged data stream that contains datarepresenting at least the at least one DTMF tone captured during thegiven interaction and data representing the at least one voice signalcaptured during the given interaction.
 6. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising at least a second data store adapted to store at least one ofthe first data and the corresponding text.
 7. The system of claim 1,further comprising at least one further transcription process adapted toconvert data representing at least a further voice signal intocorresponding text.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least onetranscription process is an automated system that converts the datarepresenting the at least one voice signal substantially without humanintervention.
 9. A method, comprising: capturing first data generatedduring a first interaction; capturing at least second data representingat least one voice signal generated during the first interaction;transcribing the at least one voice signal into corresponding text;creating at least one record to store the first and the at least seconddata and at least one of the voice signal and corresponding text; andgenerating at least one report containing at least in part the at leastone record.
 10. The method of claim 9, comprising transmitting the atleast one report wherein transmitting includes at least one oftransmitting the at least one report to a client of the call center andtransmitting the at least one report to at least one call centermanagement entity.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein capturing firstdata includes at least one of capturing at least one DTMF tone from agiven user interacting with the at least one call center and capturingat least one DTMF tone from a plurality of users interacting with the atleast one call center.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein capturingfirst data includes at least one of capturing a plurality of DTMF tonesfrom a plurality of users interacting with the at least one call centerand capturing the plurality of DTMF tones from the plurality of usersinteracting with the at least one call center, at least two of whichusers are interacting with two respective programs that are supported bythe at least one call center on behalf of different clients of the atleast one call center.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein capturingfirst data includes capturing a plurality of DTMF tones from a pluralityof users interacting with a plurality of call centers, at least two ofwhich users are interacting with two respective programs that aresupported by respective ones of the plurality of call centers on behalfof different clients of the plurality of call centers.
 14. The method ofclaim 9, wherein capturing at least second data includes capturing atleast one of a plurality of voice records from at least one user andcapturing at least one voice record from a plurality of users.
 15. Themethod of claim 9, wherein capturing at least second data includes atleast one of capturing a plurality of voice records from a plurality ofusers and capturing at least one respective voice record from theplurality of users, at least two of which users are interacting with tworespective programs that are supported by the at least one call centeron behalf of different clients of the at least one call center.
 16. Themethod of claim 9, wherein creating at least one record includesallocating space for the at least one record in at least one of a datastore and an object-oriented database.
 17. A non-transitory computerreadable medium comprising instructions for: capturing first datagenerated during a first interaction; capturing at least second datarepresenting at least one voice signal generated during the firstinteraction; transcribing the at least one voice signal intocorresponding text; creating at least one record to store the first andthe at least second data and at least one of the voice signal andcorresponding text; and generating at least one report containing atleast in part the at least one record.
 18. The computer readable mediumof claim 17, wherein capturing first data includes at least one ofcapturing at least one DTMF tone from a given user interacting with theat least one call center and capturing at least one DTMF tone from aplurality of users interacting with the at least one call center. 19.The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein capturing first dataincludes at least one of capturing a plurality of DTMF tones from aplurality of users interacting with the at least one call center andcapturing the plurality of DTMF tones from the plurality of usersinteracting with the at least one call center, at least two of whichusers are interacting with two respective programs that are supported bythe at least one call center on behalf of different clients of the atleast one call center.
 20. The computer readable medium of claim 17,wherein capturing first data includes capturing a plurality of DTMFtones from a plurality of users interacting with a plurality of callcenters, at least two of which users are interacting with two respectiveprograms that are supported by respective ones of the plurality of callcenters on behalf of different clients of the plurality of call centers.